One of the many highlights of ‘Bright Hours’, it is the latest tantalising glimpse of what will be the band’s first album for over 30 years, released on 19 February 2021.
Recalling the golden-gilded works of Teenage Fanclub or Doves, “My Wet Face” is an uplifting piece of Northern power-pop that knowingly nods to Bradford’s past and present.
Hallmarked with those classic shimmering guitars and finely-sculpted melodies by which the band first made their name; there is also an undercurrent of melancholia and wistful lyricism here that indicate a band changed by the interim years that have passed since their 1988 debut.
“My Wet Face is an 'up' song dealing with a 'down' subject - the essential existential dilemma that absolutely nothing material can be held onto in any meaningful way. It’s about the pain of life where essentially our memory is the only thing that can comfort us with recollections of beautiful moments, or even painful ones which have been somewhat assuaged by the passing of time.”
Also inspired in-passing by Ian’s late mother who died of dementia “and didn’t even recognise me or my sister or my father in her final two years on earth”; the track provides a potent pause for thought on the fragility of the human mind and memories we come to treasure.
Tying in with the song’s nostalgic themes, the single arrives with an artfully designed video by William Tucker. Unfolding like the pages of a well-worn scrapbook its content whirls through Bradford’s roller-coaster journey to the here and now
Created & produced by Bradford (Ian Hodgson, Ewan Butler & Stephen Street), “My Wet Face” was mixed by Stephen Street (Blur/New Order/ Kaiser Chiefs) and mastered by John Davies at Metropolis mastering. It is taken from what will be Bradford’s first new studio album in over three decades: ‘Bright Hours’ – set for release next month.
